Boetzingen, Germany. The Rothschild bank in Frankfurt is to expedite the selling of the insolvent supplier Peguform. Insolvency administrator Jobst Wellensiek from Heidelberg and the creditor committee of the company from Boetzingen have approved of the move. Wellensiek's aims to sell the so-called Peguform platform as a whole. Beside Peguform Germany there are also several foreign subsidiaries within the group.

According to Wellensiek, the relationship with Larry Winget, the head of the North American Peguform parent company Venture Industries, improved significantly following a few tense months earlier. The insolvency administrator now counts on the American corporation's cooperation and hopes to find a buyer for the Peguform platform by the end of the year.

"There are enough interested parties," but not all of them are interested in taking over the group as a whole, Wellensiek said in an interview with Automobilwoche.

Gerhard Amann, head of the general works council and a member of the Peguform Germany supervisory board, also hopes that a solution will be found sooner rather than later. He is specifically worried about new contracts for models that will launch from 2006. "Our customers want to know, who their future partner will be," Amann said. In 2002, after it became known that the company was in financial trouble, Peguform still managed to secure contracts for the supply of plastic parts for the Smart Roadster and the Smart Forfour.

The situation at Peguform France seems more stable following a court decision that the company is no longer insolvent. President Andre Chometon hopes to amortize 80 percent of the debts of 38 million euros by the end of 2008. On top of that since March 2003 the French company was merged with Peguform in the Czech Republic and is therefore no longer part of the insolvent Venture Beteiligungs GmbH.

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